CHAPTER TWELVE

"Zach, what are you doing here?"

"I forgot something."

"You can't just come up here. I'm already in my jammies." My protest was weak. In fact, I couldn't care less about my current clothing. All that mattered was that he was here. A burst of adrenaline swept through me.

Zach walked toward me with this predatory look and a sly grin. His gaze skated down my bare legs. Shivers left a trail of goose bumps on my skin. "I've never seen anything sexier than those shorts on you."

He hooked his finger in my waistband and pulled me closer. My hands came up to rest on his chest. Stunned, I gaped at him, my eyes wide.

This was too close. But I couldn't stop staring at him, at his lips...

"You forgot something?" My voice was shaky. "What?"

Zach took off his ball cap and tossed it on my bed. His hand moved around my waist, pulling me even closer, his other palm splayed against my cheek. He leaned in so slowly that I thought I was going to die of anticipation. His gaze moved to my lips and back to my eyes, almost as if asking for permission.

Did I want Zach to kiss me again? This time, for real and not just for a stupid drinking game? Yes, obviously I did. But what about Josh? Wasn't I supposed to be in love with him forever? Didn't I promise myself I would wait for him?

But Zach had been there for me all week while Josh was preoccupied with DeeDee, even if I hadn't realized it until now. And I remembered how it felt to be with him tonight, how exciting it was and how he managed to make me happy during my darkest hour.

Screw Josh and my preserved love for him.

I moved in just as Zach dipped his head.

The first soft touch of his lips to mine rendered my eyes shut. I let him hold me, guide me, work my mouth open with his kiss. I touched his face, my fingers digging into his hair. He seemed to enjoy that because he pressed me harder against him. His tongue brushed mine, very slightly at first. The intimacy had me shaking.

Then Zach thrust his hand into my hair. As he deepened the kiss, I finally responded with a surprising moan. I let him engage me in a dance of lips and tongues, sometimes eager, and then softly the next moment.

He inched away and waited for me to open my eyes. With a half-smile, he leaned his brow against mine. "By the way, I've known your name since the very first day you came to watch Abrams' soccer practice in ninth grade."

I bit down a grin. "Have you really?"

He struggled to keep a smile off his face, too. "Mm-hm." He nudged my nose with the tip of his then took my mouth again in a beguiling, slow kiss. His hands started to explore underneath my top, skimming the sensitive skin along my spine.

I surrendered to him, my knees getting weaker with the heat he ignited inside me, but he supported my weight with a tight embrace. He kissed along my jaw, slowly making his way down my neck. I almost lost my sanity, it felt so good. The things he did to me had to be some magic power of his, because I never thought anyone other than Josh could make me feel so light and happy. He kissed his way back up, capturing my lips in his again, his hands exploring higher and teasing the edge of my ribs.

"What the—!"

Zach was pulled away from me so fast I had no chance to protest and I had to catch myself, struggling to keep my stance.

"Take your hands off of her!" Josh yelled, shoving Zach away.

"No! Josh!" A strangled shriek escaped me as he punched Zach hard in the jaw.

Ohmygod! Ohmygod! Ohmygod!

Zach staggered back a step then caught himself before he crashed into my dresser. He ran his tongue over his cut lip then wiped the blood off with his thumb. The next instant he had Josh pinned against the wall, his forearm pressed to Josh's throat.

"I'll let you get away with this because you're my friend, Abrams," he growled dangerously. "But do this again and you wont live through the night."

"You don't scare me, Goode."

I had never seen Josh so furious. He didn't heed Zach's warning, instead deciding to head-butt him in the nose. My mind roared in panic. I couldn't move, caught in a stranglehold of shock. From the edge in Zach's eyes as he clamped his teeth, I could tell Josh had just signed his own death sentence.

Full of fear for my best friend and no less sorry for Zach's bleeding nose, I struggled to get a grip and stepped between them, one hand braced on either of their chests. "No! No! You're not going to do this. Not in my room," I hissed. Then I scowled at them both in turn with the insane fear my mom would wake up and kill me for having two boys in my room in the dead of night.

When I wouldn't let them get at each other, both drew in a deep breath, and the rattle of my bones from holding them back eased a little. I turned to Josh, staking him with the horror I felt. "Why did you come here?" And ruin the most beautiful moment of my life. You idiot!

"I had to make sure this asshole kept his hands off of you."

Zach glared at him over my outstretched arm. Unlike Josh, he was amazingly calm, which just freaked me out all the more. "You've chosen one hell of a time to show up."

"Seems like I'm just in time. You're not going to touch her again."

"I'm sure Cammie can speak for herself and doesn't need you to babysit her." He nailed Josh with a hard look. "This is none of your business."

"She's my best friend. It sure is my business," Josh spat.

"What's your problem, man?"

"You are. This ends now. I didn't ask you to go that far with her."

Zach stiffened underneath my palm. "Shut up, Abrams," he warned in a voice gone lethal.

Josh took a provocative step toward Zach, my hand still perched on his chest trying to resist and keep him back. "I didn't mean for you to sleep with her when I asked you to distract her."

I stopped, my body tense. My stomach churned.

I turned to Zach—his face in shock, his eyes trained on me instantly.

"Distract?" I'd heard that word one too many times tonight.

Zach's jaw hardened. "It's not like that—"

"No?"

Then what? Him letting me drive his car, the frat party, the kiss... It was all part of his brilliant plan to distract me. And he was sent by Josh who just wanted to feel better—do a good deed for the old friend he'd hurt. My arms fell from both boys and I instinctively took a step away from Zach—closer to Josh. The brief hurt on Zach's face told me he noticed.

"Of course it's like that," Josh answered before Zach could say more. "He called me this afternoon, wanting to know why you'd quit training all of a sudden. I asked him to get your mind off...well—" He looked at me shame-faced, his voice softer. "Off us. I knew you didn't want to see me, but I couldn't stand the thought of you being in your room all alone, crying." Then his tone hardened. "But now that I think about it, it was a stupid idea from the beginning. You deserve better than him. All he wants is to get into your pants. Don't you, Goode?"

Wait. "I deserve better?" I snapped at Josh. I couldn't believe he'd say something as trite as this when he'd been the one who chose Barbie girl over me. "Then who, Josh? You?" Cynicism leaked from every syllable. I just wanted to curl up on the floor and bawl at the unfairness of my life.

"I was good enough for you for the past ten years."

You were. Until this afternoon, when you ripped my heart right out of my chest.

Zach shoved Josh away and stared him down, venom seeping through his glare. "Now you start to fight for her? You idiot!"

"I don't have to fight for her! Not with you. She never wanted you!"

"She might now. And that scares you, doesn't it? Giving her up, but not wanting her to be with someone else. You're pathetic."

Looking at it that way, he really was. But what in the world happened that I suddenly had two furious guys fighting over me in my room. This couldn't be true. I searched Josh's face. "What's going on? You told me you're dating DeeDee. So, why are you in my room in the middle of the night?"

He shot me glance that said he'd rather not discuss it with Zach in the room. A very queasy feeling rose in my gut.

"Not hard to guess," Zach answered my question, but he kept his eyes pinned on Josh. "You slept with DeeDee. And she dumped you like I told you she would, didn't she?"

Josh was silent.

Him. And DeeDee. Naked. In bed.

A scream started in my head that threatened to shatter my ears from the inside. My knees gave way, and I collapsed on the bed. Josh reached for me, but I dodged his hand. "Don't you dare touch me!"

He came closer anyway. "Please, Cam—"

"No!" I slapped him—for the first time ever—and his head jerked sideways with the force of my palm. "Just go!"

Josh breathed a few times, keeping me in focus, jaw hardening. He wasn't going to give up, so I narrowed my eyes, filled with all the despise and coldness I was capable of. "Now."

With that, he finally backed off. He puffed a frustrated grunt and climbed out through the window. We both knew that one day we would talk again, but tonight it seemed as if that day was way in the future.

Zach watched him silently then turned to me, blood dripping from his bottom lip. "I really didn't—"

"Just stop. I don't know which of you disgusts me more." Josh, for what he did with DeeDee when he knew I loved him. Or Zach, who was the jerk I always suspected him to be, for dragging me into something as beautiful as the kiss we shared when it was only for distraction. "Leave me alone. I'm done with you."

He wasn't the fool Josh had been to come for me with reassurances when I was close to losing it. But he took a whole lot longer to leave my room. I almost couldn't hold back my tears when I looked at his pleading eyes.

"I didn't come because Abrams asked me to. I came because I wanted to see you again."

"Yeah, right. As if I would believe that. Distraction, huh?"

He grimaced and glanced away for a brief moment, as if the word itself hurt him.

"Tell me," I continued, "did I look so miserable that you thought I depended on your mercy?" I paused to swallow that hurt which lodged like a hard ball in my throat. "Or did you really just want to get into my pants?"

Zach's face hardened, as if trying to keep his anger at bay. "Cammie," he said, "you know that's not true."

The truth was, I didn't know what to believe anymore. My head ached too much to make sense of tonight. Right now, I just wanted no one near me. Especially not this liar.

"Leave. I don't ever want to see you again."

Zach didn't move for a solid minute. Then he came toward me, very slowly. Deliberately. He bent forward, planting his hands on the mattress on either side of me. He was right in my face, licking the blood from his lip. I didn't budge.

"For a minute there, I thought I stood a chance. But I guess in the end, you'll always choose Abrams." He moved closer still and bridged the inch of gap between our faces. What the heck, coming for a kiss? I sucked in a breath. But he reached past me for his cap and straightened, pulling the brim deep down his brow. "See you around, Morgan."

Zach didn't look back as he crossed to the window and disappeared into the dark. The only noise that followed were my uncontrollable sobs.

Oh, man, too much hurt in one chapter! Josh slept with DeeDee when he knew Cammie was in love with him... Cammie threw both boys out of her room and said she never wanted to speak to them again... and Josh asked Zach to DISTRACT Cammie?! So everything Zach did for her was a lie? Who else is heartbroken along with her? But the real question is, what does this mean for Zammie and for her friendship with Josh? We shall see (: I'm thinking there's only three more chapters left, so all questions will be answered soon! In the meantime, thoughts?

Hailey11213: Yep, I sure did! Hope you enjoyed it!

MaggieMG: Smiling tends to be a side effect of Zammie fluff lol. What were you doing during this chapter? Not smiling I hope... lol. Thank you, dear (: And your second review made my day (: loved it!

Em03590: Thank you, love (: I appreciate the support!

novictorieswithoutlove: I knew people would be excited about the kiss haha. Thoughts on the "breakup"?

LLLSSSBBB964: And update I did! Thoughts?

Guest: Thanks, love (: Glad you liked it!

CammieAMorgan: My goal was to make Zach's interactions with Cammie as cute as possible, so that way it hurt more when I plunged the knife into your heart! (too much? lol) But the big question... was everything he did just to help out Josh, or was it real? Thoughts? Thanks for the love (:

Total tomboy: Cammie was definitely on cloud nine... and then it all came crashing down ): I appreciate your support!

covertoperative456: Everything was so perfect! and then Zach was at the window... but then Josh came too so best of both worlds! JK lol. Thoughts on what happened this chapter?

Lions 236: First of all, I love that you feel comfortable writing about serious topics, such as blindness and paralysis. You're absolutely right that there's never any of that in Fanfic stories, and I think that's because writers on here don't want to offend anyone by exploiting such serious disabilities. So I applaud your bravery, girl! My only concern would be to make sure you don't use stereotypes, or make Cammie seem helpless because of her disability. And ESPECIALLY don't make Zach her "hero" by having him "save her." You know? But I read "The Dark Side" like you suggested, and I'm super interested! Zach disappears out of nowhere and Cammie's left wondering why... It's intriguing!

GallagherGirls13BYE: That was one of my favorite scenes too, where they both admit they liked the kiss, but without actually saying it. Thank you for your kind words (:

Guest 1: Wow, that's a lot. I'm not exactly sure how to help, but I would say to just realize that a lot of her fears and anxiety may seem irrational to you, but they are very real to her. It's hard dealing with mental health issues, I wish I would help ): I'm sorry your friend is dealing with so much.

GUESTTTTT101: thank you so much, dear (:

Silver: Well Zach and Cammie kissed in front of Josh... so you're welcome? Haha. And as of right now, you'll have to see how her relationships with both boys will play out. No spoilers here (:

Tkd girl: Of course, Josh is jealous! He's had Cammie to himself for ten years, and now Zach has swooped in! Except... was it even real? THank you so much for the praise, love (:

Guest: This. This is what happens next.

Allycarterfan101: We actually saw Zach come through the window last chapter, but that's okay! Lol. and yes, eventually Josh did come through the window haha. Thoughts?

DramsDramaDrama: I think that sounds like a wonderful idea! I can't wait to see what you come up with (: And I'm doing very well, hope you're doing fantastic too!

Guest: I did, I did, I did!

Stay safe, stay healthy, stay awesome (: